North Annandale Hotel

This neighbourhood pub on the corner of Booth and Johnston Streets is reliably Australian — welcoming, community-minded and no-frills. It hosts live music sessions every Sunday from 4pm, trivia on Wednesday nights from 8pm, and meat raffles on Thursdays. It's where you come when you're craving a pub feed, and its bistro is cooking up schnitzels and chicken parmies daily.

You can sit in the bar, or in the courtyard, and there's a kids' play area if you've got little ones in tow. The menu rarely changes, and that means you know exactly what you'll get every time you visit. Prices linger around $20–30 for a main, and there's fish and chips, rump steak, beef and bacon burger and twice cooked pork belly, all served with the usual sides.

Image: Creative Commons/J Bar